Nearly 200 miles today, by our standards that's almost a long day. The yellow beast combined with the narrow (though today in all other ways good) roads limit us to a top speed of 50mph. Thus with stops for lunch etc 200 miles represents a 6 hour day. Much of today was more flat desert scenery. The towns of San Ignacio and Mulege gave a surprise break from the desert with big stands of palm trees forming the center of the towns; real desert oases. Another visual respite from the flat desert was the town of Santa Rosalia, an old copper mining town (the mine is now closed) perched right on the shores of the Sea of Cortez at the bottom of some spectacular hills and an equally spectacular descent.

Mid afternoon we pulled off the highway into a rough dirt track looking for Playa Escondida (Hidden beach). After crawling up over a saddle between low rock outcroppings we descended onto the beach to be welcomed by a couple of dozen gringos and their mixed bag of vehicles, tents, dogs and children. For a while the yellow beast was the center of attention but eventually the conversation turned to other subjects, including schooling on the road. The group was a mix of young and old; the old generally in Mexico for an extended period and the young here for a short vacation. A friendly relaxed group.